A Mixed Response to Google’s Facebook Comments Ranking

The new update which allows Facebook comments, posted via Facebook Commenting Plugins on websites, to be indexed by Google, has been met with a very mixed response.

For individuals, whose use of the internet is limited to browsing and commenting online, the issue of privacy and online security is at the forefront of all debates; ‘should Google have access to and be allowed to publicise everything we post online?’

Whereas, from an SEO point of view, this update can be seen in a rather positive light as it allows companies to engage with their customers via Facebook comments, both from themselves and individuals that use their company/product. These comments add value to the Google search results for individuals looking for the company or a particular product as they can now see comments written by people that are not associated with the company.

A Need for Monitoring

On the downside for SEO, this update will mean that comments will have to be monitored very closely and any SPAM that appears on sites will have to be removed in a timely fashion to avoid any negative connotations being associated with individual brands.

Additionally, there is also a concern about duplicate content appearing on sites and causing a drop in the Google rankings. This occurs as it is quite common for individuals to post quotes from other websites within their comment.

There is no easy way to overcome this and it has not been made clear from Google whether duplicate content within comments will affect rankings, therefore all we can do for now is wait and see.